Recently, on national television's prime-time news, our Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak - sitting next to the higher education minister and flanked by a row of smartly dressed young men (whom I presumed to be from the Student's Representative Council or Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar, MPP) - proclaimed that University and University Colleges Act (UUCA) 1971 will not be abolished.

It was Jan 27, 2006, 31 days after Higher Education Minister Dr Shafie Salleh told Parliament that a committee was being set-up to look at the Act with the aim of reviewing it. All hope is not lost as the Student's Representative Council of the 17 public universities actually support amendments to the said act with interest of the mahasiswa in mind. This is a consistent stand as the minister promised a review of the UUCA or Auku, not its abolishment.

Najib said a memorandum submitted by the MPPs reflects the government's position on the UUCA and that he accepts the submission as it represents the views of the students. We have to remember that is the Aspirasi-led (pro-government) MPPs we are talking about. You know, the one formed in one of the worst campus elections on Sept 29, 2005 where boycotts were the norm.

The question is, why does the BN, in particular Umno, or anyone else for the matter, even bother? The massive questions hanging over the legitimacy of the campus elections have ripped every inch of credibility from the Student's Representative Councils.

I can sympathise with educators who feel that student activism and involvement in politics could be a distraction, but once a person reaches the voting age, he or she couldn't be denied a citizen's basic civil right to exercise his or her thoughts and judgements to affect change, be it social, political, environmental or economics. Students are citizens of the country and this form of active discrimination to their constitutional rights have to end.

It must be reminded that there is nothing against the UUCA in its entirety. The act contains clauses on university disciplinary procedures. However, it is also true that the UUCA is being used to threaten student activism and selectively applied as part of the anti-opposition effort. It is unfortunate that the UUCA has been abused to such an extent that many wonder if student activism is already dead in Malaysia.

For certain, there are clauses in the act that should be shown the door, but what kind of amendments do the MPP and Higher Education Ministry have in mind? Let's be careful here, "improvements" to the UUCA from a certain party's point of view could be to tighten the leash around the neck of our students, instead of loosening it.

Amidst the declining autonomy of the public universities and mockery of their student leadership, the government is now hot on its heels for a Higher Education Act. Now that the vice- chancellors are appointed via a panel from the ministry and subjected to direct executive influence, nobody should have any doubt as to which side of the universities' bread is buttered. With all these limitations imposed and more political intervention, it will be interesting to see how the review of the 13 acts related to higher education will be melded seamlessly under the new ministry. It has already taken in the accreditation board and PTPTN is on its way. Each is an important portfolio that will affect millions.

With Dr. Zulkefli Abdul Hassan chairing a committee to formulate the National Higher Education Policy, it would be very important that recommendations and suggestions at this stage be made public. A transparent approach is not only called for, but absolutely required as the taxpaying public deserves to be heard on the direction of the higher education system in this country.

The Higher Education Act will be tabled in June this year in Parliament and is already in its final stages. The higher education minister apparently has the option to seek a consultative consensus but will it be another rushed affair with coerced consensus like the Islamic Family Law Bill?

The higher education crisis will not be over with a higher education act. What it can do, however, is to determine whether we are committed on a path to recovery and ascension to academic excellence or continued denial. At this point in time, too much politics is at play in the public institutions of higher learning, be it from within or beyond.

We must therefore absolutely demand that the names be released and announced so that Malaysians can at least know who is in the various committees deciding the future policy and act for higher education in this country. I sincerely plead that the national education system be freed of overt party politics plays.